football

Psychological analyses of the German character are the flavour of the week, what with the country’s team doing so well in the football World Cup and the debate rumbling over whether Berlin should stimulate domestic demand in the economy. Is there something that makes Germans naturally better at exporting, but scared of shopping (and capable of beating 4 – nil an Argentinian football team managed by Diego Maradona)?

After living here for a few years, I still believe Germans are not really any different to other nationalities. They are careful with their money, and like it when their national football team wins. But in an article in Foreign Policy, Mark Schieritz, economics correspondent at Die Zeit newspaper, sets out why he thinks his compatriots are intrinsically different. Read more

The fiscally prudent are still reaping their reward on the football field – among European countries, at least. Down to 52 per cent from 70 per cent last week, the correlation between points and fiscal prudence remains significant. (And if it weren’t for Spain currently beating Honduras 2-0, which I’ve taken as a Spanish victory, we’d be at 59 per cent.)

With Portugal beating North Korea earlier 7-0, the big question of the day is: which country is more saintly, fiscally speaking? Read more

Has anyone noticed how Europe’s fiscal sinners aren’t faring too well in the World cup, while fiscal saints enjoy a winning streak? Well, a back of the envelope calculation has shown a 70 per cent correlation. By this logic, Estonia should have made it to the final.

Switzerland’s win is best described as reward for prudence, while England’s dismal draw against the US is divine retribution for years of overspending. Who said there was no justice? Read more

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Chris Giles has been the economics editor of the Financial Times since 2004. Based in London, he writes about international economic trends and the British economy. Before reporting economics for the Financial Times, he wrote editorials for the paper, reported for the BBC, worked as a regulator of the broadcasting industry and undertook research for the Institute for Fiscal Studies. RSS

Claire Jones is the FT's Eurozone economy correspondent, based in Frankfurt. Prior to this, she was an economics reporter in London. Before joining the Financial Times, she was the editor of the Central Banking journal. Claire studied philosophy and economics at the London School of Economics. RSS

Robin Harding is the FT's US economics editor, based in Washington. Prior to this, he was based in Tokyo, covering the Bank of Japan and Japan's technology sector, and in London as an economics leader writer. Robin studied economics at Cambridge and has a masters in economics from Hitotsubashi University, where he was a Monbusho scholar. Before joining the FT, Robin worked in asset management and banking. RSS

Sarah O’Connor is the FT’s economics correspondent in London. Before that, she was a Lex writer, covered the US economy from Washington and the Icelandic banking collapse from Reykjavik. Sarah studied Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge University and joined the FT in 2007. RSS

Ferdinando Giugliano is the FT's global economy news editor, based in London. Ferdinando holds a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where he was also a lecturer, and has worked as a consultant for the Bank of Italy, the Economist Intelligence Unit and Oxera. He joined the FT in 2011 as a leader writer. RSS

Emily Cadman is an economics reporter at the FT, based in London. Prior to this, she worked as a data journalist and was head of interactive news at the Financial Times. She joined the FT in 2010, after working as a web editor at a variety of news organisations.
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Ralph Atkins, capital markets editor, has been writing for the Financial Times for more than 20 years following an economics degree from Cambridge. From 2004 to 2012, Ralph was Frankfurt bureau chief, watching the European Central Bank and eurozone economies. He has also worked in Bonn, Berlin, Jerusalem and Brussels. RSS

Ben McLannahan covers markets and economics for the FT from Tokyo, and before that he wrote Lex notes from London and Hong Kong. He studied English at Cambridge University and joined the FT in 2007, after stints at the Economist Group and Institutional Investor. RSS